COCOA, June 5, 2017—Nearly 50 schools across Florida—from Key West and Tallahassee—participated in this year’s EnergyWhiz competition last month at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center.

More than 115 teams, which included nearly 500 students, prepared their projects for competition: model-sized solar cars for the Junior Solar Sprint (JSS), solar ovens for the Cook-off, full-scale photovoltaic panels for Energy Innovations, energy-efficient animal homes for the Critter Comfort Cottage competition, and go-cart-sized electric cars for the Electrathon.

In the longest running event, JSS, cars underwent inspection, design judging, time-trials, and new this year, team interviews. “Questions from judges may sometimes be intimidating, but interviews give students the opportunity to shine when they’ve put their heart and soul into a project,” said Guytri Still, JSS lead design judge and former middle school science teacher.

South Sumter Middle school student, Lauren Pike of Junior Solar Sprint Team Lightning McQueen, explained how her sixth grade science project on paper airplanes helped her decide how to best position the solar panel on the car aerodynamically. Spencer Aramburu-Perkins from Passport Charter in Orlando explained how she changed her JSS car chassis design from last year, and how she discovered at another race that she needed to reverse the polarity of the motor to make the car go in a different direction than she had it initially set up for.

Junior Solar Sprint cars in photo finish. Credit: Liza Robles

Weather is always a factor when using solar, and in the final races of Junior Solar Sprint the clouds moved in, but fortunately students were able to easily switch from solar to battery backup to finish the races.

“Sun is an equal opportunity energy source, which means teams compete under the same conditions, but overcast skies often create race delays. If the clouds create too much interference, we switch to batteries, which is another valuable engineering lesson for students,” said Susan Schleith, K-12 energy education director at FSEC.

This year’s EnergyWhiz Electrathon set a new record for organizer Electrathon of Tampa Bay with the number of cars participating at 19. The go-cart electric vehicles needed to make as many laps around the 1500-foot track as they could in one hour. “This course was challenging and unique with a great mix of high school, postsecondary and open class teams participating. Many of the attendees who watched the races were excited and curious about how they could build their own Electrathon vehicle. We can’t wait for next year’s event!,” said Freddi Beck of Electrathon America.

Electrathon cars race at EnergyWhiz. Credit: Kaileen Schleith

Shining stars in the Energy Innovations event were eighth grade future engineers from Howard Middle School Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. The Cerebral Palsy Playground (CP-PG) was designed for children with Cerebral Palsy to improve their fine motor skills while still having fun. The CP-PG is solar powered, safe, and can lead to hours of play. It is made up of different tactile activities, including large, different shaped puzzle pieces with suction cups, a Velcro dartboard, different colored push-button light switches, and even a bubble blower. Great measures were taken to ensure the design’s safety, including evaluated by someone experienced in working with Cerebral Palsy kids.

Howard Middle School team member explains to EnergyWhiz attendees how the Cerebral Palsy Playground works. Credit: Sherri Shields

One of three team members, Leyton Elliott, said he learned a lot about Cerebral Palsy while doing this project and realized that “Everything matters in engineering.”

As a student of teacher Eric Yuhdsz for three years, Elliott explained Yuhdsz’s philosophy, “Everybody doesn’t have to be an engineer, he just wants everyone to think like one.”

Last year in teacher Yuhdsz’s 3D Design and Modeling class, students worked on leg braces for kids with Cerebral Palsy, since they walk on their toes. His team needed a project for this year’s EnergyWhiz competition and decided to find another way to help them.

Teacher Yuhdsz says typical eighth graders are biologically wired to think about themselves. These students, however, are quite the opposite.

“EnergyWhiz is the most authentic learning there is. I wish there were more events like this,” added Yuhdsz

A parent commented about EnergyWhiz, “It was amazing to see so many bright young students with their inventions, and their enthusiasm was quite infectious. The whole project has captured Connor’s attention and the many exciting things to see and experience at the competition itself has him thinking about sustainable energy and being someone committed to making a difference. The importance of both is hard to quantify.”